Shoe sewing machines



Oct. 16, 1962 c. F. FITZGERALD ETAL 3,058,439

SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed Feb. 8, 1957 sheets sheet 1 Inventors: Charles F Fitzgerald Fred T Mac/(enzz'e c. F. FITZGERALD ETAL 3,058,439

SHOE SEWING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jnventors: Char/es f fiZgge/"a/d Fred 7. Mac KWZ/e Oct. 16, 1962 Filed Feb. 8, 1957 mum 1962 c. F. FITZGERALD ETAL 3,058,439

SHOE SEWING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 8. 1957 fnventars: Char/e5 f." f/(zge/"a/d Fred T Mackenzie United States Patent 3,058,439 SHSE SEJllhl-G MACHINES;

Charles F. Fitzgerald and Fred T. MacKenzie, Beverly,

Mesa, assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass, a corporation of New .iersey Filed Feb. 8, 1957, Ser. No. 638,987 '2 Claims. (ill. 112-258) This invention relates to improvements in floor based McKay lockstitch shoe sewing machines for use by standing operators, said machines having rotatably mounted shoe entering horns similar to that disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 638,986, filed February 8, 1957, in the names of Charles F. Fitzgerald and Arthur J. Murphy (now Patent No. 2,979,001, granted April 11, 1961). In certain of its features the invention is applicable to McKay shoe sewing machines not constructed to insert lockstitch seams.

The machine of the application above referred to has a frame including a high hollow cast iron column for supporting a sewing head and a large base area to provide an enclosing casing for a transmission mechanism comprising along substantially vertical shaft extending between the sewing head and a treadle controlled driving mechanism including a driving motor and a variable speed clutch in the base of the column, on the one hand, and a short horizontal shaft connected with a needle threading whirl, a take-up and a thread lock in a forward extension of the column, on the other hand. These machines are of necessity employed by standing operators who occasionally must apply a heavy horizontal thrust to a shoe while presenting it to the stitch-forming devices of the machine. For this reason it has always been considered essential to mount the driving motor and the bulk of the driving and transmission mechanisms on the base of the column, so that advantage may be taken of the heavy weights of these parts at the lowest possible position in the frame to provide stability against the thrust imparted to the shoe by the operator during sewing. The construction of the column and the arrangement of the shafts in the transmission mechanism therein, while providing desirable low center of gravity with large base area and convenient accessibility to many of the exposed parts, is not conducive to economy and convenience in manufacture or to compliance with desirable safety precautions in modern factory operation, particularly when it is appreciated that these machines weigh approximately a thousand pounds apiece and are about six feet tall. For instance, in the construction of the column in the machine of the prior application the motor and variable speed clutch mounted in a low rearward extension of the base are protected by a movable cover hinged to the main portion of the column. Not only does the low rearward extension of the column present a precarious obstruction over which the operator may readily trip and fall while moving about the machine, but the cover also creates a hazard by reason of its liability to drop from its raised position, inflicting serious injury to an operator while attempting to adjust the transmission mechanism. Furthermore, many of the operating parts supported on the forward extension of the machine column are exposed outside the column and require additional covers to protect them from accumulations of thread ends and finely divided particles of leather or other dross commonly found in manufacturing areas where such machines are employed. Also, the bearings for the vertical shaft in the transmission mechanism for the machine, being enclosed in a relatively small cast iron column, are not as readily accessible for alinement, machining or assembly as otherwise might be. As a convenience to the operator in supporting his work and tools during the use of the machine there is attached to the column a "ice light weight shelf surrounding the base of the shoe entering horn.

The purpose of the present invention is generally to overcome the handicaps commonly found in the construction, manipulation and accessibility of the driving and transmission mechanisms of the machine disclosed in the above-identified patent application by eliminating the long vertical shaft with its alinement problems, the low rearward projection of the base and otherwise to improve the operation of the machine, from the point of greater quantity and higher quality production, as well as in space saving and safety characteristics.

To these ends there is provided a shoe sewing machine of the type referred to, in which the column of the prior machine forming an enclosing casing is replaced by a composite sheet metal frame structure comprising as its fundamental weight bearing member a waist level table, to the upper surface of which a pedestal for supporting the sewing head is mounted and to the undersurface of which an oil tight housing corresponding to the enclosing casing for the prior machine is bolted, the shoe entering horn and an operating shaft projecting upwardly through the table into co-operative relation to the sewing head. Preferably, the lower end of the horn and a hollow vertical drive shaft for a needle threading whirl in the horn also project above the table and are mounted in a bearing block bolted to the undersurface of the table. In this way the table also serves conveniently to support work and tools for the operator as well as to protect the operating parts below the table, which are not otherwise enclosed in the oil tight casing, no individual covering being required for the operating parts since the table forming a part of the machine frame structure may, if desired, be surrounded by sheathing plates or similar enclosures to provide complete protection below the table for all of the parts, including a motor or other source of driving power. Accordingly, a safer, more convenient arrangement and a lighter construction are provided.

These and other features of the invention, as hereinafter described and claimed, will readily be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed specification, taken in connection with the accompanying draw ings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in left side elevation of a complete machine embodying the features of the present invention, certain parts having been broken away to show the underlying construction;

FIG. 2 is a perspective detail view on an enlarged scale, partly in section, showing a driving shaft for the shuttle in the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detail plan view on a similar scale of a portion of a brake actuating connection employed in the driving mechanism for the machine, as viewed from the line IIIIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view in left side elevation, partly in section, and on a somewhat smaller scale, of a table and a portion of the transmission mechanism in the machine;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view on a reduced scale of the machine shown in FIG. 1, portions of an outside sheathing plate having been broken away and access doors to the frame enclosure being shown open;

FIG. 6 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of a thread supply receptacle in the machine;

FIG. 7 is a detail view in front elevation of portions of the thread supply receptacle, a wax pot, a thread lock, and a take-up employed in the machine;

FIG. 8 is a detail view in left side elevation showing the thread lock and its mounting on the wax pot; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional plan view on a reduced scale of the table in the illustrated machine.

Except as hereinafter described, the illustrated machine is a floor based McKay type similar in construction and in mode of operation to that described in the above noted application and is of a height employed by a standing operator. The characteristic which identifies it as being of the McKay type is a rotary shoe entering horn 2 formed with a needle receiving opening 4- at its tip. The stitchforming devices of the machine include a straight hook needle 6 alined with the opening in the born, a needle threading whirl 3 beneath the opening in the horn acting to .12 3 a loop of thread in the hook of the needle when the needle is at the lower end of its work penetrating stroke, a shuttle 10, a take-up 12 (shown in FIG. 7), and a thread lock 14 (see FIG. 8). The thrust on a shoe likely to be required of an operator in presenting it to the stitch-forming devices in the machine forecloses the possibility of his presenting the shoe in a seated position.

To support the needle for reciprocation toward and from the tip of the horn it is secured to the lower end of a needle bar 16. The needle bar is actuated by mechanism driven from a main horizontal sewing shaft 18 rotatably mounted in frame arm 20 overhanging the horn, in which arm the shuttle also is mounted for rotation. The arm 20 is mounted on a vertical pedestal 22 attached by bolts 24 to the top of a substantailly square waist level table 26, the arm 20, the pedestal 22 and the table 26 all being constructed from relatively heavy iron castings.

The table 26 also has rugged reinforcing flanges and bosses beneath it and has bolted to its under surface a bearing block 28 in which the lower hollow end of the horn is rotatably mounted.

.As thus far described, the machine is similar to that of the prior application except that the table is of somewhat greater area and of heavier construction than that of the prior table to insure rigidity and effective alinement of the needle with the opening of the horn tip. By constructing the table in this way it is possible to take advantage of the increased table area by including in the space directly underneath it all of the remaining mechanisms and accessory equipment required by the machine. Thus, the table acts as a foundation for the machine and also as a protection for the mechanisms beneath it in a way to avoid the use of unprotected extensions or relatively narrow spaces within a cast iron supporting column of limited cross section as in the machine of the prior application.

In accordance with one feature of the invention, treadle-controlled driving and transmission mechanisms for the sewing shaft 18, the whirl 8 at the tip of the horn, the take-up 12 and the thread lock 14 beneath the horn are suspended directly from the table 26 and above the motor instead of being both mounted on the lowermost base portion of a heavy cast iron column, requiring a long vertical connecting shaft, as in the prior machine, in such manner as to form a precariously projecting rearward extension of the column. The transmission mechanism is contained within an oil tight housing 30 secured by bolts 32 to an under surface portion of the table 26 and provided with bearings 34 (see FIG. 4) for a secondary horizontal shaft 36 connecting the transmission mechanism with the take-up 12, the rearward end of' which shaft forms a part of the driving mechanism for the machine, the take-up 12 and the thread lock 14 being actuated from the shaft 36 in a manner set forth more clearly in the application above identified. The forward end of the shaft 36 is provided with a bevel gear 38 meshing with an intermediate gear 40, in turn meshing with a whirl driving gear 42 at the lower end of a hollow vertical shaft 44 rotatably mounted in the bearing block 28 at the axis of rotation of the horn 2, so as to project above the table 26 into co-operative relation with the sewing head. The horizontal transmission shaft 36 also has secured to it a bevel gear 46 meshing with a similar gear 48 on the lower end of a primary vertical driving shaft 50 which, through .bevel gears 52 and 54 (FIG. 1), is operatively connected to the main sewing shaft 18. Because the transmission mechanism is suspended directly from the table 26 an entirely different distribution of mass is accomplished and the hazard of instability in the prior machine is avoided.

T o rotate the sewing shaft 18 manually a hand wheel 56 is similarly geared to the shaft 50. Thus, the transmission mechanism connects the sewing shaft, the take-up, and the thread lock with the driving mechanisms. By constructing the transmission mechanism, the oil tight housing in suspended relation to the table 26 and the other frame parts secured thereto in the manner outlined, an extremely rigid construction is afforded, overcoming many of the problems of manufacture, operation and ad justment encountered in the machine of the prior application. For instance, the table may be supported on a much more flexible structure than the cast iron column of the prior machine, so that the vibration and noise of operation in the machine of the present invention are not transmitted to the factory floor in which the machine is used as completely as it is through a rigid cast iron column and the machine is more readily assembled and serviced than with prior machines. Also, -alinement of the bearings for the vertical shaft 50 no longer presents a special problem.

To protect the driving and transmission mechanisms in compliance with safety requirements, to guard these mechanisms from accumulations of factory dross and to support the table 26, the space beneath the table is surrounded by a hollow frame enclosure. The frame enclosure includes a cast iron base 58 of the same substantially square shape as the table, so that no 10w rearward base projection is necessary. Mounted beneath the driving and transmission mechanisms on the base 58 is a driving motor 6t? connected with the driving mechanism directly above it through a V-belt 62 running between a pulley 64 for the motor and upwardly over a pulley 66 rotatable at the rearward end of the transmission shaft 36. Besides the motor 69 the base 58 has pivotally mounted on it a treadle 68, the forward end of which projects from the front of the frame enclosure and has secured to it a foot plate 70. To guide the movement of the treadle vertically it passes through a slot in a guide block 72 secured to the base 58.

The frame enclosure includes a set of four corner posts 74 connected at their upper ends to the table 26 and supported at their lower ends in the base 58. As illustrated, these corner posts are constructed from equal lengths of wrought iron pipe fitting recesess in the base and table and having a series of screws, some of which are indicated at 76, passing through them into threaded engagement with the base and table. To complete the frame enclosure the posts are surrounded by four sheathing plates 78, 80, 82 and 84 (see FIG. 5) mounted outside of and removably secured to the corner posts by screws, one of which is shown at 86 in FIG. 1, passing through the plates into threaded engagement with spacers, one of which is shown at 88. The spacers 88 have integrally threaded studs engaging threaded openings in the corner posts, all of the sheathing plates being removable without dismantling other parts of the machine. The sheathing plates have overlapping right angle flanges along their vertical edges with curved corners to avoid exposure to objectionably sharp angles and their upper edges are spaced from the table as indicated at 89 so that the entire weight is supported by the table which rests upon the corner posts 74 only. The sheathing plates also surround at the left side of the machine a thread supply receptacle 90 (FIG. 5) in the form of a hollow cylindrical container slabbed off on one side to expose a thread cop 92 therein. The receptacle 90 is secured to one of the corner posts 74 and to insure easy replacement of the thread cop an opening 91 (FIG. 6) corresponding in dimensions to the slabbed-off section of the receptacle is formed in the sheathing plate 78, the arrangement being such that if it is necessary to remove the sheathing plate 78, the receptahle remains in operating position on the machine.

To guide the thread running from the supply cop 92 to the stitch-forming devices of the machine the upper end of the receptacle has mounted on it a thread tension 94 (see also FIG. 7) in a conventional form of spring pressed discs and a laterally projecting yielding wire arm 96 is also secured to the receptacle 90 with a thread confining and guiding end in vertical alinement with the thread engaging portions of the thread lock 14. The thread is carried through the thread tension 94 and through the guiding end of the arm 96 downwardly through the thread lock, through a passage in a bracket 98 and into a wax pot 100 supported by the bracket 98. The wax pot supporting bracket 98 is clamped by means of a bolt 102 (FIG. 8) to the forward end of the transmission housing 30 and from the wax pot the thread is drawn through a stripper 104 upwardly about a stationary pulley 106 to the take-up 12 and thence upwardly into the horn and through the whirl 8 at its tip.

The driving mechanism for the machine comprises the Vbelt pulley 66 rotatable and slidable along the horizontal transmission shaft 36 and a friction disc 108 secured to the transmission shaft 36. To drive the machine the pulley 66 is pressed against the friction disc 108 by a clutch collar 110 fitting a groove 112 in the hub of the pulley 66. For actuating the clutch collar, indentations in the collar are engaged by a pair of pins, one of which is illustrated at 114, carried by upwardly projecting forked ends of a lever 116 fulcrumed on a stud 118 carried by a rearwardly projecting portion of a cylinder block 119 bolted to the transmission housing 30. To assist in bringing the transmission shaft to rest the cylinder block 119 has a horizontal passageway within which is slidably mounted a plunger 120 engaging the friction disc 108 at the opposite side from the pulley 66. The plunger 120 has a hollow shank within which is mounted a compression spring 122 for pressing the plunger yieldingly against the transmission disc. For retracting the plunger from the friction disc when the machine is in operation the forward end of the plunger has a peripheral groove 124 engaged by a pin on an arm 126 secured to a rockshaft 128 (see also FIG. 3). The rockshaft 128 is rotatably mounted in a bearing formed in a downwardly projecting portion of the housing 30 and has attached to it a forked arm 130 within the fork of which a vertical control rod 132 passes. A lower end of the control rod is pivotally connected to the treadle 68 and the upper end is similarly connected to an arm 134 loosely mounted on a shaft 136 in the upper head frame arm 20. The arm 134 ccoperates with a control lever 138 for disconnecting the needle bar 16 from the sewing shaft 18, so that the needle may be brought to rest in a position at the upper end of its reciprocating stroke whenever the machine operator releases the pressure of his foot from the control treadle 68. To adjust the pressure of the plunger 120 on the friction disc 108 the spring 122 is backed by an enlarged head of a screw 139 threaded into a lug portion of the cylinder block 119.

Upon releasing the pressure on the control treadle the treadle is raised by a link 140 connecting the control treadle with a spring 142 the upper end of which passes through an opening 144 in a flange along the lower edge of the transmission housing 30. At the same time the control rod 132 rises a collar 146 (see FIG. 1) on the rod engages the under side of the forked arm 130, if required, to rock the shaft 128. During ordinary operations the collar 146 is generally inoperative because the spring 122 urges the plunger rearwardly and the arm is separated slightly from the collar 146. To enable the brake plunger 120 to be retracted from the friction disc 108 when the treadle 68 is depressed, a second collar 148 on the control rod 132 engages the upper edge of the forked arm 130. Below the collar 146 is a third collar 149 arranged to engage and operate the upper end of a threaded sleeve 150 in the lever 116. In other respects the illustrated construction is generally the same as in the machine of the prior application.

To expose the bearing block for the horn, the transmission mechanism, the thread lock, the wax pot, the

thread tension, the other devices and connections within the frame enclosure without removing the sheathing plates, the plate 84 has a cutout section within which is fitted a pair of swinging doors 151 and 152, the door 152 overlapping the door 151 and being formed with sliding spring pressed bolts 154 for retaining it in closed position. The sliding bolts 154 have secured to them finger pieces 156 (FIG. 1) protruding through slots in the door 152.

For driving the shuttle 10 the vertical shaft 50 carries a bevel gear 158 meshing with a corresponding gear 160 rotatably mounted in a hearing 162 in the pedestal 22. The gear 160 has passing loosely through its axis a shuttle driving shaft 164 connected at one end to a universal joint 166 and at the other end to a slip connection.

In addition to the universal joint and the slip connection for the shuttle driving shaft of the machine of the prior application, the illustrated machine has an adjustment for changing the angular relations of the gear 166, the shuttle, and the other stitch-forming devices. For this purpose the shaft 164 has fixed to it a key 168 (see FIG. 2) sliding in a keyway of a hub for a coupling flange 170. The coupling flange 170 is formed with arcuate slots 172 for receiving screws 173. The screws pass through the slots 172 into diametrically opposed openings in a flange 174 into which the screws are threaded. The flange 174 also has axially projecting lugs 176 engaging a pair of correspondingly shaped grooves 178 in an enlargement at the forward end of a hub on the gear 160. To retain the gear 160' in place within its bearing 162, the hub on the gear 160 is formed with a circumferential groove into which fits a snap ring 180. Thus, the flanges 170 and 174 and the hub of the gear 160 form a combined slip and adjustable connection for the shuttle driving shaft 164.

To enable the horn bearing block 28 to be removed conveniently the forward edge of the table 26 is constructed with a central cutout area 182 (see FIG. 9) through which the vertical whirl driving shaft 44 projects. To close the front of the cutout area 182 a flanged plate 184 is secured by screws 186 to the table with its flanged portion projecting upwardly and in alinement with a corresponding flanged portion of the table 26.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and a particular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A floor based shoe sewing machine of the McKay type with its point of operation at a convenient height for a standing operator, said machine having:

(a) stitch forming devices including a reciprocating hook needle,

(b) a rotary shoe entering horn formed with an opening at its tip alined with the needle,

(0) a needle threading whirl beneath the opening in the horn,

(d) a pedestal having an arm overhanging the horn for supporting the needle,

(e) a main horizontal sewing shaft in the arm for actuating the needle,

(f) treadle controlled driving and transmission mechanism having (g) an oil tight supporting housing including a primary vertical shaft and a secondary horizontal shaft geared together and to the main sewing shaft for timing the operations of the stitch forming devices and a clutch mounted at one end of the secondary shaft, and (h) a hollow vertical whirl driving shaft geared so the secondary shaft at the axis of rotation of the horn, in combination with (i) a composite frame structure comprising (i) a waist level table to the upper surface of which the pedestal is bolted and to the undersurface of which the oil tight housing is bolted, and means for supporting the table from the floor, the rotary shoe entering horn and the primary shaft being supported from the table and projecting upwardly through the 7 table into co-operative relation, to the sewing head. 2. A floor based shoe sewing machine with its point of operation at a convenient height for a standing operator, as in claim 1, having:

(k) a bearing block bolted to the undersurface of the table, in which block the lower end of the horn and the hollow vertical drive shaft for the whirl are rotatably mounted.

13,499 Ross et a1. Aug. 28, 1855 Taplitsky Mar. 2, 1915' 8. Reed Feb. 5, 1924 Gouldboum June 4, 1929 Leveqne Nov. 24, 1931 Topham Jan. 5, 1937 Leveque May 12, 1942 Haas Mar. 23, 1943 Haas Aug. 31, 1943 Webb May 2, 1944 Kessler May 10, 1949 Hope Nov. 1, 1949 Rich July 22, 1952 Schaefer Apr. 17, 1956 

